Senior Manager of PMO

Description

The Senior Manager of PMO is responsible for establishing and operating a centralized Project Management Office to improve project execution, visibility, and consistency across the organization. This role focuses on standardization, delivery excellence, and portfolio transparency, while enabling future evolution of the PMO toward a more strategic, enterprise-wide function.

Key Job Responsibilities:

PMO Establishment & Governance

• Establish the PMO operating model, core processes, and standards to support consistent project delivery.

• Define and implement project management methodologies, templates, KPIs, reporting cadence, and governance routines.

• Implement and maintain Stage Gate processes, including: standard gate deliverables and templates, facilitation of gate reviews, and tracking of decisions, risks, and actions.

• Ensure governance is applied consistently across projects and functions.

• Document PMO processes to enable scalability and future maturity.

• Support annual planning, budgeting, and capital planning through data, analysis, and reporting.

Project & Portfolio Execution

• Oversee execution of a portfolio of capital, operational, and business improvement projects.

• Ensure projects are delivered within approved scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations.

• Establish and enforce standards for project planning, risk management, change control, and financial tracking.

• Monitor portfolio health and intervene to address schedule, cost, risk, or resource issues.

• Maintain portfolio dashboards and provide clear, data-driven project status reporting to leadership.

• Support project sequencing and resourcing recommendations based on capacity and priorities.

• Serve as the primary PMO point of contact for functional leaders.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Project Managers.

• Set performance expectations, conduct reviews, and support individual development plans.

• Support hiring, onboarding, and workload balancing within the PMO.

• Build project management capability through training, mentoring, and standardized practices.

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement & PMO Maturity

• Identify and implement improvements that increase predictability, transparency, and compliance in project delivery.

• Support organizational excellence initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, system implementations, and facility upgrades.

• Drive standardization and best practices across the PMO and project teams.

• Periodically assess PMO effectiveness and recommend enhancements as the organization grows.

Requirements

Required

· Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Life Sciences, Business, or related discipline.

· 8 to 12+ year’s experience in project management, engineering management or PMO creation/governance.

· Experience implementing or operating PMO processes and governance.

· PMP, CAPM, CSM, PgMP, or equivalent project management certification.

· Proficiency with project and portfolio management tools.

 · Experience in biomanufacturing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or regulated manufacturing.

· Strong organizational, strategic planning, and stakeholder management skills.

· Demonstrated leadership abilities with direct reports and team members at the task ownership level.

Desirable

• Lean/Six Sigma certification or experience in organizational excellence.

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking and portfolio-level decision making

• Leadership and team development

• Cross-functional influence and communication

• Risk management and structured problem-solving

• Financial acumen (capex, forecasting, resource planning)

• Ability to manage multiple high-impact initiatives simultaneously